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- Sword of Truth, Boxed Set III
- sword of truth set 3
- The Sword of truth Series by Terry Goodkind
- Great reading
- Great Job
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Sword of Truth, Boxed Set III, Books 7-9: The Pillars of Creation, Naked Empire, Chainfire (Sword Of Truth)
Terry Goodkind
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0765356856 |
Book Description
This Mass Market Boxed Set, is the Third Boxed Set of The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind:
The Box Set includes:
Pillars of Creation, 0-765-34074-7
Naked Empire, 0-765-34430-7
Chainfire, 0-765-34431-9
Book 7: Pillars of Creation
Sequel to the New York Times bestselling Faith of the Fallen
New York Times bestselling author Terry Goodkind has created his most lavish adventure yet. Tormented her entire life by inhuman voices, a young woman named Lauren seeks to end her intolerable agony. She at last discovers a way to silence the voices. For everyone else, the torment is about to begin.
With winter descending and the paralyzing dread of an army of annihilation occupying their homeland, Richard Rahl and his wife Kahlan must venture deep into a strange and desolate land. Their quest turns to terror when they find themselves the helpless prey of a tireless hunter.
Meanwhile, Lauren finds herself drawn into the center of a struggle for conquest and revenge. Worse yet, she finds her will seized by forces more abhorrent than anything she ever envisioned. Only then does she come to realize that the voices were real.
Staggered by loss and increasingly isolated, Richard and Kahlan must stop the relentless, unearthly threat which has come out of the darkest night of the human soul. To do so, Richard will be called upon to face the demons stalking among the Pillars of Creation.
Discover breathtaking adventure and true nobility of spirit. Find out why millions of readers the world over have elevated Terry Goodkind to the ranks of legend.
Book 8: Naked Empire
Beginning with Wizard's First Rule and continuing with six subsequent fantasy masterpieces, Terry Goodkind has thrilled and awed millions of readers worldwide. Now Goodkind returns with a broad-canvas adventure of epic intrigue, violent conflict, and terrifying peril for the beautiful Kahlan Amnell and her husband, the heroic Richard Rahl, the Sword of Truth.
Richard Rahl has been poisoned. Saving an empire from annihilation is the price of the antidote. With the shadow of death looming near, the empire crumbling before the invading hordes, and time running out, Richard is offered not only his own life but the salvation of a people, in exchange for delivering his wife, Kahlan, into bondage to the enemy.
Book 9: Chainfire
With Wizard's First Rule and seven subsequent masterpieces, Terry Goodkind has thrilled readers worldwide with the unique sweep of his storytelling. Now Goodkind returns with a new novel of Richard and Kahlan, the beginning of a sequence of three novels that will bring their epic story to its culmination.
After being gravely injured in battle, Richard awakes to discover Kahlan missing. To his disbelief, no one remembers the woman he is frantically trying to find. Worse, no one believes that she really exists, or that he was ever married. Alone as never before, he must find the woman he loves more than life itself....if she is even still alive. If she was ever even real.
Customer Reviews:
Sword of Truth, Boxed Set III.......2007-08-06
Terry Goodkind is one of the Kings of Fantasy and has the amazing ability to bring the reader right into the story with very few if any boring "set-ups." The adventure always rolls right along and gives the reader the never-ending desire to turn the page, read another chapter, oh heck, finish the book, it's not that late. Goodkind is an author those of you who love fantasy will read over and over and over again.
sword of truth set 3.......2007-05-07
Goodman has developed a complex vile group of villians in the Order and Jaagang. Reminds a reader of the current world events.
The Sword of truth Series by Terry Goodkind.......2007-04-12
Sorry, but I'm nowhere near reading ( Books 7-9)yet; I'm on book number 2( just started it) and with that said I am extremely happy I started reading this series of 12 books and I got the book before the series started. Terry Goodkind books just the kind books there should be more of, I'm looking forward to finding more of his work in the future. P.S. I bought 1 -9 and have put in an order for # 10 and the book that lead to the series to be deliver first of June. Thank you help me re-start my love for reading once more, by keep the cost down.
Great reading.......2007-03-21
I have read all but one of Terry Goodkinds sequels. I have found his books to be entertaining and they grip you with their tales. I hope these books get turned into movie sequels or tv sequels.
Great Job.......2007-01-10
I am very happy with the product and the person(s) I bought this from. It came very quickly as promised and I had no problems with it and I would do business with them again.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Average customer rating:
- Again??!!
- A review
- This was the book that made me stop reading Goodkind
- Do I Have to Give This Mess A Star?
- Oh God, Save Me
|
Naked Empire (Sword of Truth, Book 8)
Terry Goodkind
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0765344300
Release Date: 2004-06-01 |
Book Description
Beginning with Wizard's First Rule and continuing with six subsequent fantasy masterpieces, Terry Goodkind has thrilled and awed millions of readers worldwide. Now Goodkind returns with a broad-canvas adventure of epic intrigue, violent conflict, and terrifying peril for the beautiful Kahlan Amnell and her husband, the heroic Richard Rahl, the Sword of Truth.Richard Rahl has been poisoned. Saving an empire from annihilation is the price of the antidote. With the shadow of death looming near, the empire crumbling before the invading hordes, and time running out, Richard is offered not only his own life but the salvation of a people, in exchange for delivering his wife, Kahlan, into bondage to the enemy.
Customer Reviews:
Again??!!.......2007-10-03
I do like this series but, he seems to be re-using the same old plot line over and over... They start together then, they are split up because of some foe, then one of them looses the ability to use their power then,.....AND What happened to the wizards rules?? Do they just stop at four?? Also, We all know that Kaylan loves Richard and Richard loves Kaylan. Can we move on?? I like charictor devlopment but, they are not going anywhere... Just in love... We are not learning any more about them just how very very...VERY much in love they are. It is cool to have a sub-story to off set the blood and gutts but, this is not supposed to be a love novel...I don't think... A little less talk and alot more action please. Really those are the only problems i see. I still enjoy the books very much. Thanks Terry!!
A review.......2007-09-18
After reading the 8th novel in Mr. Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Being an avid fan of the previous novels I've noticed that he is summarizing too many events from the past. That on its own is rather dull but I suppose it let's people who haven't read the first four books get up to date. In this novel we see Richard and Kahlan thrown into a pit of danger and a threat against their lives. To me this novel was a bit too preachy about society. I found myself skimming a lot of it but above all it is a good book but not as good as the first four.
This was the book that made me stop reading Goodkind.......2007-06-20
I had already thought about stopping after reading "Pillars of Creation", which was overall a rather nice book, until Jenssen suddenly has that Richard-clone speach at the end. However, after having read 7 books of this series I still wished to give the 8th one a try. After 6 chapters I stopped reading, and this is why: for 7 books, Goodkind was able to get the action started and the main chars in life-threating danger by the end of chapter 2. In this book, all that happens in the first 6 chapters is the chars walking around, talking and exlaining all the greatness of Richard and his view to Jenssen, and two obnoxious baby goats getting killed by some predator birds. Also no Zedd in these chapters. :(
Do I Have to Give This Mess A Star?.......2007-06-09
This book is definitely not worth 1 star. Goodkind ran out of ideas about 4 books back. He has tried different tactics to keep the series going. He has totally side-tracked the series with a couple of books (Soul of the Fire and Pillars of Creation) that did not add anything to the storyline. Then he wasted page after page with a political debate in Faith of the Fallen. With this book he uses 2 methods to fill pages with useless verbiage: First he tries to engage us in a meaningless philosophical debate, and second he re-tells all of the other books of the series in this one. Here is an example: Kahlan is being attacked by a brute from the Order who is 2 steps away from reaching her. During his first step Kahlan recalls what it means to be a Mother Confessor, and how all the other confessors have been brutally killed. She recalls her best friend dying in her arms, and how she never expected to have a true love. She remembers how she touched Richard with her power and how he was able to survive and return her love (all this takes about 15 pages to describe). During the brutes next step Kahlan remembers all the times that she and Richard have been through, and just how much she loves him. She recalls his tender touch, and remembers their passionate love making. There is also a long discussion about how the Confessor's power works (all this takes another 15 pages. Finally the brute reaches Kahlan and she subdues him. Total time lapse in story = 2 seconds, total pages used in book = 30.
There is no doubt that Goodkind must have been smoking some very strong illegal substances when he wrote this book. Take a look at his photo on the back cover and tell me that this guy doesn't have a bong collection in his closet right next to his S&M sex toys.
The guy responsible for editing this book must have taken the day off to go fishing. The actual story would have taken no more than 100 pages. The rest is a re-hash of everything that has been written before, or some of the most useless philosophical mumbo-jumbo I have every read.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Borrow from the library if you must indulge.
Oh God, Save Me.......2007-02-06
If you read any other book in the series, then you have already this one. The first few books in the series were fairly good, definitely not a series that will be loved for years to come, but an ok read. Terry is definitely not of the same par of writer as Robert Jordan or George Martin. His big downfall is that he rambles on and on about the same worthless stuff through every book.
The main characters, Lord Richard Rahl and Kahlan are by far some of the most unlovable characters you will ever meet. People follow these two blindly, yet they have no leadership skills whatsoever. They only are focused on one another. Their people are dying by the 1000s while they run around the world trying to save each other.
This is the only series I have ever had to give up on because it is so god awful boring.
Save yourself alot of trouble and buy something good.
Product Description
`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.
Customer Reviews:
Check and see.......2007-06-21
I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.
Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22
Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.
Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05
We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:
a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;
b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;
c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.
Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:
It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.
- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.
- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.
Fomenko goes by the following axioms:
- Chronology is the basis of history;
- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;
- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;
- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;
- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;
- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.
Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?
The Russians:
Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.
The Westerners:
Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.
The Chinese:
Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.
The Arabs:
Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.
The Divinity:
Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.
According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.
St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."
Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09
After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.
However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:
- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.
I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.
The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.
It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?
Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.
Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30
If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?
Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.
Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..
Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.
Book Description
This book examines in detail the Japanese Infantryman who was, despite comparisons with the notorious German Waffen SS, an enigma to Westerners. Brutal in its treatment of prisoners as well as the inhabitants of the areas that it conquered, the Imperial Japanese Army also had exacting standards for its own men - strict codes of honor compelled Japanese soldiers to fight to the death against the more technologically advanced Allies. Identifying the ways in which the Japanese soldier differed from his Western counterpart, the author explores concepts such as Bushido, Seppuku, Shiki and Hakko Ichi-u in order to understand what motivated Japanese warriors.
Customer Reviews:
A worthy attempt to explain the inexplicable.......2005-10-04
I wanted to learn more about the Japanese soldier of World War Two from the viewpoint of the private. Gordon L. Rottman didn't disappoint. He describes squad and platoon organization, individual clothing and equipment, and follows a fictional soldier through his career. Most readers will find the Imperial Japanese soldier alien--because they expect the product of early 20th-Century Japan to think, feel, and act just like themselves. Let go of prejudice and it will be easier to see what life was like for a son of Nippon.
To be crudely blunt, life was Hell for the Imperial Japanese soldier. Japan was too poverty-stricken to support her soldiers in the field. The Japanese war machine took over the nation and bogged it down in a land war that made America's Vietnamese nightmare seem gentle. Don't forget--the utter fanaticism of the Japanese soldier led to Harry Truman dropping two atomic bombs on Japanese cities so that American soldiers and sailors and Marines wouldn't have to die storming the home islands. Death, and the promise of a Japanese Vahalla, must have been a blessed relief from disease, starvation, and boredom--and the terror of pre-invasion bombardment by the American Navy.
I really liked the detail on the light machine gun team and its equipment. Apparently, only four 30-round magazines were issued for the Type 96 and Type 99 light machine guns--and between 450 and 750 rounds of ammunition. The flexible nature of Japanese small unit organization was well presented. For a 64-page book targeting an English-speaking audience, this book is an excellent reference on the life and equipment of the lowest level of the Japanese military machine.
Book Description
Whether writing of the Alps, the high seas, or the North Pole, Fergus Fleming has won acclaim as one of today's most vivid and engaging historians of adventure and exploration. The Sword and the Cross takes us to the Sahara at the end of the nineteenth century, when France had designs on a hostile wilderness dominated by deadly Tuareg nomads.
Two fanatical adventurers, Charles de Foucauld and Henri Laperrine, rose to the cause of their country's national honor. Abandoning his decadent lifestyle as a sensualist and womanizer, Foucauld founded a monastic order so severe that during his lifetime it never had a membership of more than one. Yet he remained a committed imperialist and from his remote hermitage continued to assist the military. The stern career soldier Laperrine, meanwhile, founded a camel corps whose exploits became legendary. During World War I the Sahara's fragile peace crumbled. In the desert mountains Foucauld paid a tragic price for his role as imperial pawn. Laperrine, by then recalled to the Western Front, returned to avenge his friend.
Customer Reviews:
Uncharacteristically dull.......2005-08-24
Usually, Fergus Fleming books make for very good reading; he writes in an accessible manner, and the enthusiasm for the subject matter shines through. This is what I have found about the previous books I have read by this author, Barrow's Boys and 90 Degrees North. However, this time, Fleming's knack for snagging me as a reader and pulling me into the story has deserted him. The Sword and the Cross, which should have been a riveting tale of Saharan exploration, ended up being dull and listless, and it was a relief to finally finish the book.
The Sword and the Cross is nominally about two Frenchmen - Henri Laperrine, a career soldier, and Viscomte Charles de Foucald, once a Parisian layabout, but now a fanatical monk, having divested himself of all his world possessions and trappings, both men forging reputations in the Algerian desert. The backdrop to the tale of these two characters is set against the French colonization of Algeria, which later fell apart in the 1950s as Algeria sought independence from its French masters.
It is an interesting premise to contrast the differing motivations behind the lead characters. Laperrine is a dedicated military man, who established a French Camel Corp to combat the native Taureg raiders in the desert. Foucald tried to spread Christianity through his wanderings of the desert, although he was remarkably unsuccessful, attracting only one member to his harsh order. Together, each man played significant roles in establishing the French colony, Foucald as a spy who provided intelligence on the leading Arab personalities, and Laperrine as the enforcer and soldier.
Part of the problem for me with the book is that Foucald, as revealed through his writings and subsequent events, is actually a rather unpleasant character, given to constant bouts of moaning. It is extremely difficult to empathize with him through his self inflicted hardships. The enduring perception of the man is that it seems that he was closer to lunacy than to God. Not much is revealed about Laperrine as an individual, as there is nowhere as much literature about him as there is about Foucald. Another niggly aspect is the lack of plates in the book - although there are portraits of Foucald and Laperrine on the endpapers, there are no other photographic images provided which is a shame. There are a couple of maps for the reader covering the regions traveled.
Whether it is the story itself, the characters (which I feel is the main failing), or the writing, The Cross and the Sword unfortunately does not capture and enthrall the reader in the same manner as Fleming's past books have. Despite this, the book is a useful addition to the history and exploration of Northen Africa. If you are interested in this subject, then you may still find The Cross and the Sword worthwhile reading. But if you are looking for an enjoyable and interesting story of human challenge and endurance, this is not it.
Disappointing.......2005-06-09
I suppose I should write something clever, but I pretty much agree with everything in Bruce Loveitt's review above. It seems like the book should be very interesting, but it just isn't. I too finished it just for the sake of finishing it, but my life wouldn't be any poorer if I'd just left it on the shelf.
An account of the wasteland of Africa.......2003-11-08
An interesting book on an extraordinary topic. When the French began to penetrate the Sahara in the 1830s they had no idea how much of a wasteland it was. The Sahara in fact is so big it could swallow the United States whole. In the last 19th century explorers and military adventurers began to venture into the vast wasteland, usually the expeditions originated from the south.
Charles de Foucauld and Henri Laperrine star as the main characters in this historical account of colonialism and adventure. One is a wandering womanizer turned saint, a fanatic whose insane ideas knew no bounds. The other is a strict military officer. The only characteristic the two men had in common was devotion and strict discipline. They became fast friends as the fanatic led the soldier across the desert in search of empire and national redemption. The author details in great photographic text the many stories and adventures these two men had, one of which included the creation of a camel corps to explore the desert wasteland where no man could survive.
This book is perfect for anyone interested in survival/adventure stories, anyone interested in the Sahara and life in the desert as well as colonial enthusiasts. This is not an overview of the French colonial experience in Algeria, although many of the subjects, like the rise of Muslim fundamentalism are touched upon, this book looks at the French colonial experience through the eyes of two very eccentric if typically French individuals. An important book on an oft not covered subject.
Disappointing Book From One Of My Favorite Writers.......2003-10-16
I'd previously read, and enjoyed, both "Barrow's Boys" and "Killing Dragons." So, I fully expected to enjoy "The Sword And The Cross." Alas, it was not meant to be. The first hundred pages or so held my interest. After that, I just kept reading for the sake of finishing the book. Not a pleasant experience. So, what happened? Mr. Fleming wanted to tell us about the history of the French colonial experience in Algeria and the Sahara. He chose to do this by primarily concentrating on two people: Charles de Foucauld and Henri Laperrine. Unfortunately, the first fellow was so bizarre that it was impossible to sympathize with him. He was a hedonist turned religious fanatic. He was a masochist. Where others travelled by camel in desert temperatures of 120 degrees farenheit, Foucauld chose to walk. He ate almost nothing. He refused to indulge himself with creature comforts. He longed for death. (I'm not guessing about this or playing armchair psychiatrist. Fleming quotes several times from Foucauld's journal concerning his lifelong deathwish.) Foucauld wanted to convert Moslems to Christianity and set himself up as an example of a person living a Christian life. However, he really had no interest in other people and longed for solitude. Not surprisingly, he failed to gain converts. Despite espousing Christian principles, he was very inconsiderate of his long-suffering manservant and he spent much of his lifetime gathering intelligence to pass on to the French military. Mr. Fleming quotes many people who looked upon Foucauld as a holy-man. It is clear that, in person, he possessed "a certain something" which caused people to look upon him that way. Unfortunately, it doesn't come across on the page. One gets only the impression of an egocentric, unhappy, and self-destructive "nut." We wind up not caring about what he does or what happens to him. With Laperrine we have a different problem. Not much is known about him and he wasn't big on self-publicity. Hence, he floats in and out of the narrative and we never get a handle on who he is and what he wants, other than that he wanted France to be successful in the colonization of the Sahara. One of Fleming's major themes is that the French really had no compelling reason to be in the Sahara. It was sort of, "well, everybody else has colonies, so we want some too...even if we are talking about thousands of miles of desert." At one point, Fleming enjoys writing about one "native notable" who agreed to go to France for a visit. Upon returning home to Africa, he was mystified as to why people who "had Paris" would want to come to the desert. Fleming's point is that there was no point - after the initial contacts, the French presence just sort of snowballed. The book is filled with numerous trips through the desert by the French military, as they try to prove to the Arabs and Tuaregs that they are in control. But, since the whole thing is so pointless, we wind up not caring about any of this. Frankly, it is monotonous and boring to read about. I am a Francophile, and Mr. Fleming is a very good writer, but I couldn't get worked up about any of this. I suppose that if you are French, this background to what became the "Algerian Nightmare" of the mid-20th century (a military quagmire with terrorist attacks, to boot) might be of some scholarly interest. Otherwise, for the general reader, I just can't recommend this book.
Book Description
A portrait of the Samarran Turk community while in the employ of the 'Abbasid caliphate during the ninth centuries.
Customer Reviews:
The Sammaran Military and the Origins of Abbasid decline.......2004-06-01
Gordon has written an excellent history of the origin of the 'Turkish' (as Gordon notes, not only Turks were involved)military under the Abbasids. Locating the construction of the slave-soldier Turkish regiments under the reign of al-Ma'mun, he adeptly attributes the origin of this practice to the need of the 'Abbasid state to reconstruct its military power following the devastating civil war of al-Ma'mun vs. his brother, al-Amin. Thereafter, his account traces the founding of Sammara--a nearly unparalleled, massive medieval city bordering on a million inhabitants at its peak--which served as both the the new seat of the caliph and the base of the Turkish armies. Gordon gives a cogent, lucid picture of the political and social dynamics that the formation of the Turkish slave-soldier regiments. While tracing the rise and influence of the new Turkish elite, he convincingly points to the internal contradictions that led the undoing of Turkish influence over the caliphate and the eventual erosion and waning of central Abbasid power (which was always fragile). Half of the pages dedicated to the work consists of the bibliography and footnotes. Gordon demonstrates a fluency in the source material that does not deprive him of an analytical edge that many of the historians of his field too often lack.
Average customer rating:
- Essential reading
- Excellent
- A Fresh Perspective of Napoleanic Conflict
- Awesome book - required reading!
- A Clean Miss
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With Musket, Cannon and Sword: Battle Tactics of Napoleon and His Enemies
Brent Nosworthy
Manufacturer: Sarpedon Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Revolution | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
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General | Napoleonic Wars | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Napoleon | Napoleonic Wars | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon
ASIN: 1885119275 |
Customer Reviews:
Essential reading.......2005-09-01
The tactics of the Napoleonic Wars have been poorly understood. Nosworthy gives excellent detailed examples from the era showing how each of the combat arms dealt with each of the combat arms of their opponents. He shows the importance of morale and how 18th century doctrine evolved into Napoleonic tactics. Skirmishers preceded attacking infantrymen, and columns were generally used not so much for attack as they were for maneuver toward the enemy where the men would then deploy into line. The French used lines more than has been generally thought. This system worked against everyone but the British, whose superior skirmishers kept the French columns in the dark until British infantry fired a volley and charged just as the French were attempting to deploy. This book is essential to understanding Napoleonic warfare.
Excellent.......2001-09-14
First class - the outstanding general work in its field. Previous unfavourable reviews seem more concerned with superficial detail than with the key arguments of the book.
A Fresh Perspective of Napoleanic Conflict.......2001-02-08
I was privileged to to provide Mr. Noseworthy some research for this book, and therefor feel honored to be associated with it. Notwithstanding my own bias, this is still an impressive work which gives a perspective on the Napoleanic conflict which is unsurpassed. For far too long we have been influenced by the generalist view of the tactics and formations employed then. Even major historians like Chandler and Elting while providing great overall perspective of the period, are very scanty when it comes to describing how troops actually fought back then. This book provides a lot of answers and has a nuts and bolts perspective which is fascinating. Mr. Noseworthy's expalnation of how the aristocracy of the 18th Century limited the employment of non-linerar tactics in the French and other armies goes a long way toward explaining how the French were able to employ them in the Napoleanaic period. Here we see that the tactics of the French Revolution and Napoleanic periods did not simply fall out of the sky, but were already established principals whose time had finally come. Mr. Noseworthy discusses in detail how French formations fought and delivered fire, and dispels a lot of myths about the French army. Contrary to popular opinion, the French fought in a variety of formations besides column, and were not adverse to employing lines. Reference is made to how the British fought in this period, and we learn it was not platoon fire that defeated the French in Spain and Waterloo, but point blank vollies followed by spirited bayonet charges. The book quotes alot from primary sources, many of them seldem referred too before, even by major researchers in the field. This book goes a long way toward re-evaluating how we should understand Napoleanic Warfare, and as such is bound to ruffle a few feathers as far as popular established views are concerned. Mr. Noseworthy's writing is clear, subtle, and to the point. There is seldem a paragraph that does not contain some interesting fact. I look forward to a work on the US Civil War period where countless myths and falsehoods about the formations employed in that war could be addressed in the same logical fashion. It was a priviledge to be associated with this book, and look forward to do doing so again if the occasion arises. Buy this book wherever you can find it!
Awesome book - required reading!.......2000-07-03
Contrary to the previous review (A Clean Miss), I find the book to be an excellent sourcebook for areas that other authors often fail to broach. The book focuses on morale, and how it relates to the tactics of the day. I notice that the previous harsh review completely fails to focus on the book's main points and instead picks at minor flaws of little relevance. There may be some minor errors, but they in no way detract from the book's main argument, which has an undeniable ring of truth to it. I realise that some might see the author's conclusions as going against the old guard military traditions, but anyone who misses out on this book is missing out on a very important facet of Napoleonic warfare.
A Clean Miss.......2000-06-21
With Musket, Cannon, and Sword, Brent Nosworthy has made a large attempt at a comprehensive examination of tactics in the Napoleonic Era. What he has given us, however, is a volume full of error, misconception, and a lack of understanding of both the soldiers of the period and how they fought.
The author relies on some references, such as du Picq and Nolan, that lie outside the period. He demonstrates a difficulty with the translation of certain French military terms (such as to 'flit about' for voltigeur, instead of 'vaulter,'its actual meaning), and doesn't comprehend the definition of field artillery (defining 12-pounders as 'positional artillery), and makes up his own terms on ocassion to define certain overall terms (I have yet to come across, either in English or French the term 'impulse tactics' for the French system-it is clearly a term the auther coined, which isn't helpful).
Additionally, he arms French cuirassiers with lances, has General Duhesme surviving the Napoleonic Wars (he was mortally wounded at Waterloo), identifies Marbot as a member of the 23d chasseurs when he was the commander, confusing the terms 'chasseur' and 'voltigeur', giving French cuirassiers 'head plates' instead of helmets, and uses some dubious sources (such as JFC Fuller, Marshals MacDonald and Marmont, Jomini, Thiers, and Thiebault, for example) for reference when a little careful research would have identified them as such.
The author does, however, have excellent primary source material in his bibliography, such as French artillery manuals of the period, drill regulations of the different belligerents, and such outstanding secondary works as Quimby's The Background of Napoleonic Warfare and Col Elting's Swords Around A Throne, but apparently doesn't pay much attention to them.
Some of the more egregious errors are crediting Frederick the Great with developing European cavalry to 'charge at speed' when this was done by Gustavus Adolphus over 100 years before; using the wargame terms 'medium cavalry' for dragoons and 'converged' instead of provisional which is the accurate term for temporary units. One of the worst errors in the book is his description of French skirmisher tactics, repeatedly stating they purpose was to 'pester' the opposing line and not what they were actually used for in large numbers: to be used to prep the opposing line for an infantry assault and to be that assault's fire support element in an integrated tactical system.
The artillery sectioin is hopeless. There is no distinction made between the different weights the combatants used (for example a French pound was heavier than an English pound), thus giving a false impression on throw weight. While the author does distinguish somewhat between field and siege artillery, he assigns siege guns to the field armies when they had none and doesn't appear to understand how devastating short range massed artillery actually was during the period. Further, the author doesn't understand field artillery doctrine of the period even though artillery manuals are listed in the bibliography. In particular he states that counter-battery fire (artillery firing on an opponent's artillery) was regularly done, when in fact the French, British, and Austrians frowned on the practice as too time consuming and wasteful of ammunition. It was only done when the enemy's artillery was hurting your own infantry more than you were hurting theirs. The author also invents a field version of the 24-pounder siege gun when none existed.
The most extraordinary statement by the author on artillery is
`Any good artillery officer recognized that the true effect of artillery was in its ability to demoralize the enemy at a critical moment, rather than physically to eliminate the opposing force.' This is ridiculous and fails to take into account actions such as Senarmont's at Friedland in 1807 and Drouot's at Lutzen in 1813 when massed French artillery completely destroyed a portion of the enemy's line.
Overall, this volume paints a very inaccurate picture of the tactics of the period and the age overall. It is an unreliable resource, and in reality cannot be used as a reference. It belongs to that half of Napoleonic literature that is a 'waste of good paper and printer's ink.'
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